The opposite of faith is our dependence on the arms of flesh, ours or of others instead of total dependence on God and laboring with His gifts and grace. We aren't supposed to attain God's will and obtain His promises any other way aside through dependence on Him.

Desperation is the key to the miraculous. Everyone Jesus touched, healed and impacted had a desperate need. The leper, the woman at the well, the adulterous woman, the blind, the lame, and the dead – were all desperate. Jesus’ own hometown of Nazareth said, “We want nothing to do with you.” They weren’t desperate.

If you have any of these thoughts and feelings, you are not alone! The journey of faith can often contain doubt, questioning, and even frustration. That is normal. It is normal because although God created us in His image to follow Him and reflect his image to the world, the world we are born into has a completely different agenda.

Money can make people treat or worship it as a god (though few will ever admit even when they are mammon worshippers), and money can make people live as worldly gods (though mammon also knows how to blind its worshippers from discerning their idolatry).

These prayers are to thank God for the privilege of seeing and coming to the end of the year 2015. Our prayer is to finish well, in Jesus’ name! Let us spend the remaining days of this year thanking and praising God for His faithfulness -

Do not judge people. You are not perfect yourself. If you need to ask God to lead you to another church, if you feel that your pastor has failed you then ask for a meeting. Discuss the matter with your pastor and make sure you are at peace.

Prayer is a must if you are to live a victorious life. God is calling people to build prayer altars in their lives. God is looking for a man who will stand in the gap that evil will not befall men. An understanding of what to expect when you rightly build a prayer altar will energize you to do so.

God speaks to our spirits, deep within us, but when the enemy speaks we can hear that voice in our minds or our souls. Have you ever had an intrusive thought just pop up in your mind? Next thing you know you are obsessing over that thought.

Think about the reason you are trying to be in control. Because there is so much going on in your life. How silly of us is it to want to, and try to, be more in control during these craziest of times? As if we don't have enough to do by simply trying to keep our heads on straight and get from one day to the next.

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. The message concluded by recognizing that given its vital role, protecting the heart of a Christian against any attacks including spiritual heart attacks is wise.

Until it got to Number 8, the oil did not start flowing. The number 7 stands for completion. The seven sons prior to David had been presented but it was a complete “No!” for all of them. Number 8’s are spontaneous, creative, feel the pain of others, solve problems, help others even when they are still struggling, don’t mind playing the background because that’s how they grew but when given the opportunity, they shine and evolve!

It is absolutely true that all things have been given to you as God’s child, but it is critical you understand how to possess those things which God has freely given to you as inheritance, otherwise, there’s no way you will enjoy or live the life expected of you as a son. To possess your possessions, the first key is that you must take practical steps to claim those things which God says belong to you

It is God’s will that you thank Him (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Thanksgiving should always accompany your prayers and requests to God (Philippians 4:6). Our prayer is that God’s “will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

Therefore, when you are experiencing pressure, frustration, panic, fear and anxiety, you need to apply your break and ask yourself, "What is calling for my attention now?" You may need only a little adjustment here and there as God directs you and everything will fall in place.

Prayer is a channel of communication with God and for you to effectively communicate with Him, you need to identify who He is to you. If you see God as a task master you will relate and talk to Him as a hard boss.

Each day as we step outside, we are surrounded by people wearing masks. There's the woman who, as a little girl, was never validated by her daddy. So, she jumps from man to man hoping one day to meet her knight in shining armor. There is the little boy trapped within a big, burly man’s body who’s been dragging around with him all the years of loneliness, the pain of not measuring up, even trying to fill his God-shaped void with a woman. Having repeatedly failed, he's tried drinking, porn, drugs, big-boy toys--in some cases, the ministry.

To many people, God is no more than a visitor in their homes, a passenger in their car, and a spectator in the affairs of their lives. Rather than run to God in their time of need, their first port of call is usually the ears of a fellow man. This explains why many crash with reckless abandon in the journey of life. The bottom line is, if you treat God like a guest, a spectator, or a passenger and expect to have it great at all times, you are definitely in for a shock!

Growing up we all heard our mother say, “What are you up to in there?” Clearly the sounds she was hearing were cause for concern. And, like all kids, we gave the classic reply: “Nothing.” Oh, we were so far from the truth, but with good reason. We were having the time of our lives and didn’t want to stop.

Years ago, I felt compelled to write letters to several wealthy business people. Among them were the president of Walmart, the founder of Chick-fil-A, and a businessman in Mansfield with a reputation as a Christian philanthropist.

I stared at the coffin. The pastor’s voice could be heard, but my mind seemed to interpret nothing. Though my family considered the last five years of my dad’s life as borrowed time, his death came unexpectedly. I had imagined that a surgery or perhaps months of illness would take his life. Instead, he died on a day when he felt his best. He and my mom were headed to their car from a routine hospital visit. A beautiful day. My dad’s comments on the day’s sunshine were his last words. He fell to the ground.

Life is never what you expect. I’ve met no one who can testify that the life they mapped out went according to plan. Instead, life is made up of high mountaintop experiences and low, dark valleys with curves throwing you in and out of pitfalls and unexpected ditches.